Think What You're Trying to Accomplish

I have gotten more sleep in the past 3 nights than I have since May 28, 2010 (that night I didn't sleep at all - or the night after, either). This is partly my fault and partly Lydia sleeping better.

Sunday night, Lydia went to bed by 7:30 and I was in bed by 9:30 (yeah!). I woke up around midnight to check on Lydia, since she hadn't woken up yet. She was still fast asleep, so I went back to bed. I next woke up at 3:30, amazed at how well Lydia was sleeping. I looked over at the monitor and realized it was turned off! I quickly turned it on and could hear Lydia babbling to herself in her crib. I leaped out of bed, wondering how long she had been awake, how long she had cried, and how I could have possibly turned off the monitor! She was facing the opposite way I had put her into the crib, her socks were off, and her hair matted a bit from her tears. My poor baby! I never let her cry for very long. Amazingly, she forgave me, nursed, and then slept until 5:30, so I brought her in bed with me and she slept again until 6:15.

Monday night the monitor stayed on all night. Lydia was in bed by 7:30 and didn't wake up until 12:00. I let her cry for 5 minutes (she was just whimpering), then sent Brian in there to turn her over, put the pacifier back in her mouth, and pat her a few times. She was out in a second and slept until 2:00. I nursed her, put her back in bed, and she slept until 5:30.

Tuesday night, Lydia was in bed by 7:30. I turned the monitor down while Brian and I watched HOUSE on the laptop in bed. I never remembered to turn the volume back up on the monitor. I went to bed at 9:30 and didn't wake up until 4:30. I looked over at the monitor to see the orange lights flashing! Lydia was crying! How could I have done that again?! Luckily, she forgave me, again, and I nursed her and put her back to bed and she didn't wake up again until 6:30.

I want her to start sleeping better, but I never liked the cry-it-out theories. I hate hearing my baby cry. I do want her to be able to go back to sleep when she wakes up at night, but we'll work on that gradually. I have heard that the CIO theory works and may only take a few nights...but I just can't do it to Lydia. Of course, if these two monitor accidents cause her to sleep better, than that's fine...but I didn't do it willingly!

Despite the fact that I'm sleeping longer stretches at night (6 whole hours straight - amazing!), I'm still exhausted in the mornings. I hate waking up at 6:15. I'd rather cuddle with Lydia in bed for the whole morning. I've recently realized that I'll be waking up this early until all our kids are out of the house. And by then, I'll probably automatically wake up this early! Brian says we'll force ourselves to stay in bed late. At least Brian also wakes up by 6:20 - I don't like seeing him sleeping in late while I have to get up early.

In other news...we will hopefully close on our house by early November! Yeah! The owners have accepted our offer and we are just waiting on USAA with our loan-stuff. Very exciting! We'll be in our very own home before Thanksgiving! We are planning trips to Big Lots and IKEA to look at potential furniture. And I can't wait to decorate my own home! I'm sure Leah and Jessie are just as excited.

Lydia is going to a new pediatrician on Friday for her 4 month check up (a bit late). I got tired of her previous doctor's office not being able to find us on insurance. Hopefully this pediatrician is helpful and informative. Lydia has been eating rice cereal for 2 weeks now. She is not really interested in it because it probably doesn't taste all that great. I want to add fruit to her cereal, but will consult the pediatrician first. Lydia loves snacking on banana cookies and graham crackers. She watches me eat my food and I can tell she wants to eat it too! 

Brian and Lydia sleeping when Lydia was only a few days old.

Oh, Wouldn't It Be Lovely

Brian and I are now proud owners of iPhones. We went to the AT&T store last Saturday, and after an hour and a half, we finally came out of the store with two brand-new iPhones. I was amazed at how much add-ons the sales guy at the store wanted us to get. But, Brian was really good at turning the guy down. 

As soon as we got into our car, I took my iPhone out and started playing with it. The first person I called? My mom. Of course, she didn't answer since I have a new phone number, but it was still exciting making a phone call on my new phone. We went to Best Buy to buy covers for the phones and then spent the rest of the day playing with them. The only app (or is it ap?) I have bought is Angry Birds - very addictive. I'm not very good at it, but it's something to do when I'm bored. I have been taking a ton of pictures of Lydia on the iPhone and they look really good. I even figured out how to text message a picture to Brian so he can see what Lydia and I are doing while he's at work. These phones are awesome!

In other news....Lydia was supposed to have her 4-month check up on Thursday, but once again the office couldn't find her on the insurance. I was very frustrated, made a new appointment, called Brian and told him to fix it - again - and left. Lydia and I went to University Hospital (where Lydia was born) to pay our huge hospital bill. My insurance didn't cover any of the hospital charges because they found out I was in a car accident and let the car insurance company cover it all. Amazingly, AllState (the insurance the driver who hit us had) paid for the ENTIRE bill and gave us a pain and suffering check. My bill for the emergency room (which includes several x-rays, MRIs, ultrasounds, pain medications, etc), plus my delivery and hospital stay totaled up to over $19,000! AllState paid for it all, plus over $5,000 in pain and suffering. I practically had Lydia for free - except I didn't really want to go about it that way.

Despite not having her 4-month check up (I'm changing pediatricians - tired of this insurance stuff), I bought Lydia some rice cereal today and she tried some (mixed with breast milk) tonight. We set up her space saver high chair and she looked so tiny sitting in it! I made the cereal nice and watery (or milky) and let her try it. Most of it was spit out, but she enjoyed having it in her mouth. Plus, this is just practice for her to get used to eating solids. I think she'll be a pro soon! She already likes to suck on French Fries (I know, I'm bad) and banana cookies. She likes to watch us eat and I know she wishes she could have some, too.

I'm so excited that our little family will finally have a house of it's own! We have been approved for a loan from USAA (with a good interest rate) and the owners of the house accepted our offer! My parents have been awesome and are putting money towards the house - so we'll be co-owners - to ensure that we get the house we want and to help us afford it. Brian and I are looking forward to living in our own house and are already thinking of ways to decorate it. I have enjoyed living with the Carabajals for a year and a half now, but can't wait to be on our own - and I know they can't wait to have the house to themselves. We'll most likely be able to celebrate Thanksgiving in our new home!

And Conquer It You Will

This started off as an easy, almost "vacation-like" week for Leah and me at the daycare. N would be gone all week, B was off Monday and Tuesday, J would be gone Thursday and Friday, and C might be gone either Wednesday or Thursday. We would have, at the most, 3 babies at once! However, C came in on Monday with diarrhea, after having had the stomach bug on Friday. We didn't think much of it. She only messed her clothes a few times, nothing too horrible. She came in again on Tuesday with diarrhea, but only in the morning. 

Then, it happened. A threw up during her nap, then again at the table while she was drinking water. We sent her home. J threw up during nap, and then again after almost falling asleep in Leah's arms (luckily she had just put him down). Oh no! Two kids sick from the same thing after going months with never having a sickness in our class! The good thing about only having the same kids every day is that there is no illness. There may be a runny nose or two, but nothing bad that lasts a long time. In a big daycare, kids always have runny noses, are always getting fevers, diarrhea, ear infections - everything. The teachers also manage to catch whatever is going around. Sickness spreads like crazy at big daycares. But, in a contained daycare, hardly anything happens. However, C visited her cousins, who's daycare class was spreading the stomach bug. And then C brought it to us.

I thought for sure Lydia would avoid the bug. She was breastfed. Breastfed babies don't catch things like that. But, at 3 am Wednesday morning, after nursing and putting Lydia back in her crib, she threw up! Lydia's throw up is not disgusting - it's all milk - but it's still very messy! And I felt so bad for her! She would cry afterwards and look so sad. She was exhausted and slept all the time. She barely moved around and rarely smiled. She was not herself at all. It just broke my heart.

I called the doctor, since she wasn't able to keep anything down and I was worried about dehydration. I was told to bring her in. J and A weren't coming in that day, and we told B to stay home so she wouldn't get sick. We had detailed cleaned and sterilized everything in the center, but we still didn't want B getting sick. So, Leah only had C all day and I was able to take Lydia to the doctor. After being told Lydia wasn't on our insurance, and I had said I wanted her seen with or without insurance, we finally saw the doctor. Lydia wasn't showing signs of dehydration and the doctor recommended that I still try to nurse her every 3 hours, but maybe limit the feedings. If she kept throwing up afterwards, to give her a little bit of water.

We got back home and Lydia rested. I called Brian about the insurance issue and we found out that the hospital was wrong - Lydia was on our insurance. Lydia continued to throw up about an hour after every feeding. I kept her dressed in only a diaper and wrapped in a towel. Finally, after 1 am Thursday morning, Lydia was keeping her meals down and by 7:00 that morning, she was doing so much better - laughing and talking again!

But, I wasn't. Brian had gotten a little sick Wednesday night, so I let him sleep by himself in the bedroom while I slept in Lydia's room. He was feeling much better by the morning. I got sick at 4:30 Thursday morning and hoped I wouldn't throw up again. Thankfully, my mom and dad took Lydia for the morning so I could sleep and recuperate. No babies ended up coming, so Leah convinced Jessie to get off work early and then they took Lydia in the afternoon. By 2:00 Thursday afternoon, I was much better.

Finally this illness is gone! Leah never got sick and Jessie's stomach only hurt a little bit. A came back to daycare Friday, but B stayed home. So we just had A and C until 2:00, then we just had C. So, even though it's been an "easy" week with us having only a few kids, it's been a crazy week with everyone getting sick.

Today we are taking Lydia to the park, getting iphones, and then looking at more houses! I'm so glad everyone is back to normal and look forward to a "normal" week next week!

Have I Your Heart, My Darling?

So, we looked at the two houses on Saturday. The first house was a smaller version of the house we want, which would have been great. But, it reeked of smoke! The owners (who still lived there) didn't even try to cover up the smell! I left with my stomach upset and a headache. The house had really nice carpet, and I just know the smell of smoke would never come out! The second house was nice, but a very interesting floor plan. You walk in (through the front door) into the "middle" level, which was the kitchen, breakfast nook, dining/living room, half bathroom and a sliding glass door to the backyard. Then, if you go up the stairs (about 6 steps), there's the 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. If you go down the stairs (again, about 6 steps), it's a large living area, glass doors to the backyard, laundry room, and door to the garage. We don't really want a 2 story house (or a 3 story/split level), since Lydia and stairs don't mix just now. Plus, we think we'd get tired of the set up of the house. So, we still love our original house the best.

After looking at the houses on Saturday, we went to Target to get Lydia an umbrella stroller. We didn't want just the simple kind - like my parent's have for the grandkids - we wanted one that would last for a long time. We found a brown stroller that was on clearance (originally $80, on sale for $40). It's really nice. It folds up just as small as a little umbrella stroller, has a small basket underneath, and shoulder straps. I like the shoulder straps since Lydia isn't sitting up on her own yet. Technically, you're not supposed to put a 4 month old baby in this type of stroller, but Lydia loves it. She likes being able to see out, instead of just up (like her car seat stroller). I like carrying her around in the front pack or sling, but we can go on longer walks with this stroller. She liked riding around in it when we went looking for flip flops for Daddy.

Brian is the hardest person to find flip flops for. First of all, flip flops are "out of season" in most stores (although they're year round for Brian), so finding a store that had nice flip flops was difficult. Second of all, Brian has huge feet - size 12 - so finding a store that has flip flops AND his size was difficult. We finally found some at American Eagle (on sale for $10) and then another pair at Hollister (on sale for $10). 

Leah and I went to a kid's consignment store and found tons of new toys for our babies! Leah's mother-in-law gave us a vanity and an outdoor play house that she found at a garage sale. We found a cute little chair, a dinosaur that makes noise and you put balls in, a new see-and-say, and a few other toys. The consignment store is really nice. I even found a Halloween costume for Lydia - she's going to be a little lamb! So cute! We are getting our center set up for toddlerhood. Our babies are all walking, except N (but he'll probably walk before we know it) and need older toys. We also want to make centers for them. We'll have a dramatic play center, quiet area with pillows and books, and the manipulatives center, with all the blocks and puzzles. We're very excited about working with toddlers!

Leah and I also went to HEB to get food for the babies for next month. Lydia came with us so Daddy could play his video game and relax before another week of teaching 6th graders. She rode in my sling the whole time (and of course got a lot of compliments). The sling was very comfortable and my shoulder only started hurting by the time we were finished. Lydia loves riding around in the sling. I knew she wouldn't last long in her car seat, since she loves being held. But, she gets so heavy! So the sling is the best thing. 

Always Dreams With You, Never Common Sense

I never imagined how long the process of buying a house could be! We made an offer on the house down the street, but it's too low of an offer. Before we go up in price, Brian and I are going to look at two other 4 bedroom houses in our neighborhood. These houses are lower in price (about the amount of the offer we made on the first house) and look nice from the pictures online. Of course, they don't come with as much - no washer/dryer, no refrigerator, etc. But, if it's lower in price, we can spend the money on new appliances. I look forward to looking at these new houses. Even though the house down the street is still "perfect" and we both like it, I convinced Brian to look at other houses before we offer a higher price. Maybe we'll end up really liking one of these two houses.

These past two work days have been so easy. Thursday we only had 3 babies and Friday we only had 4! Even though we haven't had all 6 of the babies, we still didn't get out of work until after 6:00. Next week, we may even only have 2 babies on one day, but will still get out after 6:00. At least it's some sort of a break. J's mom mentioned a friend who heard about our daycare and really liked it. He has a son J's age, which is the perfect age we're looking for, so it would be nice if we could get a friend to take Little R's place. The friend is in another daycare, so it may not happen, though. Hopefully we'll find something.

I've learned that Lydia really likes The Wiggles. She was screaming and screaming the other night, but it wasn't quite bedtime yet, so I went on netflix and put on a Wiggles movie and she immediately stopped crying! Then, last night when Brian was watching her, but he needed to grade papers, we put her on her tummy to watch The Wiggles and she loved it! She was even talking to them! When I watched it with her, I made sure to talk to her about what we were watching, which made me feel better (it was an "activity" we did together). I don't want to get her addicted to TV already, but it's nice to have something that will distract her for about 15 minutes.

A's mom gave Lydia a ton of her old 3-6 month clothes. A whole, huge bag full! I went through them and am so excited. A was born in September, so she has several jackets that will fit Lydia by the time it gets cold. Plus, lots of cute pajamas (Lydia was growing out of hers), and onesies. I love getting the hand-me-down clothes. Especially A's, since she has tons of different clothes. It will still be hard for me to not buy Lydia anymore clothes. Even though she has more than enough, it's hard to pass up all those cute baby girl clothes!

Today, either after looking at houses or before, we're getting Lydia a small umbrella stroller to take her on walks in. It's sometimes difficult with the front carriers and the sling, and we can go on longer walks with her in the stroller. We're also going to get her a toy, since she likes playing with some of the toys in the center. 

Even though I'm up at 6:00 on a Saturday morning, I know today's going to be a great day!

It Will, If You Want it to Darling

Brian and I have found the "perfect" house. It's just across the street from our current home, has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, breakfast nook, dining room, front room, living room, washer and dryer, two car garage, and a huge backyard. I liked it when I walked past it a few months ago and saw the "for sale" sign out front. I liked it when I looked at the pictures online. And I really liked it when I got to walk around inside it. We're gradually starting the process of owning our own home. I can't believe how expensive homes are, or how long the process of buying a home is! This is all new to both of us, but luckily we have a good Realtor (my parent's friend) who is willing to walk us through the process. I wish we could just up and move into the house this weekend...but it takes much, much longer than that.

Just when we've decided to start looking into buying a house, which will then consist of house payments (much more expensive than the rent we currently pay), our youngest baby is leaving Family Infant Home Care. His unmarried parents (mom is 20, dad 36) are not getting a long, and dad isn't all she thought he'd be. So, mom is taking baby and moving to California. Which means, we're back to 5 babies. This 6th spot has been "cursed", as we like to say. Little R (the one who's leaving), was signed up to come to FIHC before he was even born, but then his mom backed out because of money and transportation issues the week before he was due. Then, we thought a little baby, Miley, was coming at the beginning of June, but her parents backed out the week she was supposed to start. Then, we thought we had found a baby in July, but she was 18 months old (and very tall) and we decided she wasn't a good fit for the center. Then, Little R came back to us, but after 2 months is leaving. We want to start looking for another baby to fill the spot, but at the same time, we are so comfortable with the 5 wonderful babies we have now. But, that extra tuition check a month would be very nice. We think we're going to set a certain time limit - such as the end of October - to find a baby (one that fits our specifications - 10 to 16 months old with parents we like). If we haven't found one by then, then we won't fill the 6th position, and just stick with our 5. Hopefully, if we're meant to have 6 babies, we'll find a good match by then.
Lydia has not joined us in our bed for two nights now. She goes to bed at 7:30, is dreamfed at 9:30, wakes up at 11:30. Brian pats her down, but she has woken up shortly after that, so I feed her and she's asleep again by 12:00. She wakes up again at 3:30 and I nurse her and put her back in her crib. Then she doesn't wake up again until 6:00 - 10 minutes before my alarm! I think I'm going to have Brian pat her down at 3:30 and maybe she'll sleep until 4:00 or 4:30, so she won't wake up until 6:30. At least she's only down to waking up twice a night now. Soon I won't even remember what it was like to wake up every few hours each night and will be enjoying a full nights sleep!

With Everything I Could Possibly Hope For

This week was long and I was exhausted by Friday. Since Lydia's been sleeping in her room by 7:30 each night, Brian and I have managed to go to bed early (by 9:30 at the latest) every night! I never knew I'd be so excited to get to bed before 10:00 each night.

Despite our exhaustion, Leah and I went out on a "girl's night" Friday night. N's parents gave us a $25 gift card to Red Robin for allowing him to come at 6:45 each morning (and he usually didn't leave until 6:15pm!). So, we got a little cleaned up, left the boys to fend for themselves (they had wings and steak), put Lydia to bed and gave Brian the monitor, and headed off by ourselves! We went to Red Robin, ate too much, then to the Palladium for a movie. We saw THE SWITCH, with Jennifer Anniston and Jason Bateman. We really wanted to see EASY A, but it was sold out. However, THE SWITCH was actually a really good movie - I really liked the little boy and Jason Bateman's character.

Brian and I got up when Lydia got up on Saturday morning (7:45) and started getting ready for heading to Austin. We tried packing up an extra portable mini crib from the center (now that A, B & C are on cots we have extra cribs that we want to sell) to bring to Brian's parent's house. But, the crib didn't fit (despite Brian taking it completely apart - he can't wait for his truck!). We took Lydia's play gym, her boppy, her quilt, packed her diaper bag with extra diapers (forgot extra wipes), lots of milk and bottles, and headed off. 

We stopped first at Shepler's for Brian to buy his new boots. He wanted boots made out of Caiman (some kind of crocodile or alligator, right?), but they didn't have any his size. After much searching, he found boots he liked made out of python skin (yes, python). At first he was upset because they didn't have a size 12 (he has big feet), but an 11.5 fit him perfectly. The boots were on sale for $319.00 (originally $449.00). He also bought a new button down shirt and a belt. He had a 20% off coupon, so saved a lot of money. After an hour there, we finally headed off to Austin, but not before Lydia had a blow out in the store; Shepler's bathrooms doesn't have a changing table, so I had to change her in the car, and used up all my extra wipes.

Lydia slept the whole way to Austin, which was very nice. We went to HEB to pick up lunch for everyone; three frozen California Pizza Kitchen pizzas and some salads. We made it to the Pfeiffer house by 12:30, had lunch and visited. Lydia played in her play gym. By 2:00, we were ready to go shopping and Lydia was getting fussy - a perfect time to leave her with the grandparents!

I found a really nice pair of jeans at Old Navy - jeans that actually fit really well - so I bought 2 pairs. I also got two new pairs of sweatpants for work, and several t-shirts for work. I spent about $150.00 at Old Navy. Then, on to A'Gaci. It was a small store, so I only found a cute dress and a cute blouse, plus a bunch of my favorite undershirts in a variety of colors (spent about $60.00 there). At Forever 21, I found several cute shirts and spent about $50.00, I think. I bought a super nice bra at Victoria's Secret for $45.00. At Aeropostale, I bought a plaid button down shirt to match Brian (he's been wanting me to get one) and two t-shirts for work; totaling $45.00. At Macy's I bought a long dress (only $4.99!), a cardigan, two three t-shirts and a short dress; totaling $50.00, I think - most of the clothes were on clearance. Then I bought two pairs of shoes at Payless - sneakers and moccasins - totaling $50.00. So, I spent about $450.00 at Barton Creek Mall on my new wardrobe and have about $50.00 left! I think I'm going to buy some more bras at Target, and maybe some more t-shirts for work.

My loot:

9 blouses for the weekends and going out

5 t-shirts for work

3 dresses

2 pairs of shoes

1 bra

5 undershirts

1 cardigan
2 sweatpants 

I am now going to head over to my bedroom and get rid of all the clothes that no longer fit me, or that I no longer wear, and replace them with my new clothes! I will have to take a picture of my closet when I am finished organizing.

Late, Brian and I are going to tour houses in the neighborhood with my parents and their Realtor. Very exciting!

I Love You, I Do

Since my last post, Lydia's sleeping habits have changed again. She's back to waking up every 1 to 2 hours. I read through the "Baby Whisperer's" book, but was not impressed. She didn't agree with crying it out, or co-sleeping and tried to stay somewhere in the middle. But, there was no clear way she suggested to get the baby to sleep through the night. I don't agree with Dr. Sears' method, in that I don't want to co-sleep with Lydia, don't think I should walk or rock her to sleep, but I do agree that I want her to feel safe and comfortable and loved when I put her to bed. I don't agree with Dr. Ferber, either. I'm not going to let Lydia cry it out just yet. When she's a toddler, then yes, she should be able to sleep (I like Jo Frost's way of putting children to bed) on her own. But, until then, I'll just have to come up with something on my own.

Last night, I decided I wasn't going to "dreamfeed", which was a mistake since Lydia woke up at 10:30, (3 hours after eating) versus usually waking up at 11:30-12:30. I had Brian go in when she first woke up and pat her down. It took him about 10 minutes. Lydia then woke up at 11:30. I nursed her, she fell right to sleep. She woke up again at 1:45, I nursed her, and went back down at 2:00. She woke up again at 4:15 and I took her to bed with us, nursing her. She woke up at 6:03 - 7 minutes before my alarm. 

Tonight, I'll dreamfeed her, hoping that she'll stay asleep until almost midnight, then have Brian pat her down. I'm trying to get rid of this midnight feeding. I think she's just in the habit of waking up at this time, not because she's hungry. I change her diaper at the 1:45 wake up, since she has a hard time sleeping in a wet diaper.

Yesterday was a hectic Monday with all the kids screaming and tired. I was exhausted, since Lydia didn't sleep well at all (not even in our bed). I was able to take a 30 minute nap on the couch while the kids were sleeping. Luckily, A was picked up by 1:30, so that made the afternoon a lot easier. She is a handful - always pulling hair, grabbing toys, scratching faces. She doesn't understand the meaning of "no" yet, and doesn't listen when her name is called. Today, B went home early (good thing since she's recently started biting) and R showed up late.

I'm ready for the weekend! We're going shopping in Austin while Brian's parents babysit Lydia. Brian gets his first teacher's paycheck on Wednesday (YEAH!) and since he did math camps over the summer, we each get to go on a shopping spree! I haven't bought many  new clothes since I was pregnant, so I want a whole new wardrobe! Very excited.